Nutritional substances are traditionally grown (plants), raised (animals) or synthesized (synthetic compounds). Additionally, nutritional substances can be found in a wild, non-cultivated form, which can be caught or collected. While the collectors and creators of nutritional substances generally obtain and/or generate information about the source, history, caloric content and/or nutritional content of their products, they generally do not pass such information along to the users of their products. Further, there is no information available to the consumer regarding changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of nutritional substances or regarding residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance after they have been conditioned, and no way for the consumer to know what conditioning protocol will achieve the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values he desires. It would be desirable for such information be available to the consumers of nutritional substances at any desired moment, as well as all participants in the food and beverage industry—the nutritional substance supply system. An interactive system and data base, including user-friendly dynamic nutritional substance labeling allowing consumers, and any other member of the nutritional substance supply system, to access information regarding changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance as well as creation and origin information for the nutritional substance, at any moment during the life-cycle of the nutritional substance up to the moment of consumption, would offer great value to the nutritional substance supply system.
The nutritional content, also referred to herein as nutritional value, of foods and beverages, as used herein, refers to the non-caloric content of these nutritional substances which are beneficial to the organisms which consume these nutritional substances. For example, the nutritional content of a nutritional substance could include vitamins, minerals, proteins, and other non-caloric components which are necessary, or at least beneficial, to the organism consuming the nutritional substances. Caloric content refers to the energy in nutritional substances, commonly measured in calories. The caloric content could be represented as sugars and/or carbohydrates in the nutritional substances.
Consumers are starting to demand that the food and beverage industry offer products which include higher nutritional content, and/or at least information regarding the actual current nutritional content of such products, also referred to herein as the residual nutritional content. In fact, consumers are already willing to pay higher prices for higher nutritional content. This can be seen at high-end grocery stores which offer organic, minimally processed, fresh, non-adulterated nutritional substances. Further, as societies and governments seek to improve their constituents' health and lower healthcare costs, incentives and/or mandates will be given to the food and beverage industry to track, maintain, and/or increase the nutritional content of nutritional substances they handle. There will be a need for an industry-wide solution to allow the management of nutritional content across the entire cycle from creation to consumption. In order to manage the nutritional content of nutritional substances across the entire cycle from creation to consumption, the nutritional substance industry will need tools to identify, track, measure, estimate, preserve, transform, condition, record and communicate nutritional content information for nutritional substances. Providing nutritional substances with user friendly dynamic nutritional substance labeling facilitating this type of information connectivity and access will be a key in a system capable of such functionality. Of particular importance is the measurement, estimation, and tracking of changes in nutritional value, as well as changes in organoleptic and aesthetic values of a nutritional substance from creation to consumption. The changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values are individually and collectively referred to herein as ΔN. This ΔN information could be used, not only by the consumer in selecting particular nutritional substances to consume, but could be used by the other food and beverage industry participants and modules, including creation, preservation, transformation, and conditioning, to make decisions on how to create, handle and process nutritional substances. Additionally, those who sell nutritional substances to consumers, such as restaurants and grocery stores, could communicate perceived qualitative values of the nutritional substance in their efforts to market and position their nutritional substance products. Further, a determinant of price of the nutritional substance could be particular nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values, and if changes to those values, also referred to herein as ΔN, are perceived as desirable. For example, if a desirable value has been maintained, improved, or minimally degraded, it could be marketed as a premium product. Still further, a system allowing creators, preservers and logistic transporters, transformers, conditioners, and consumers of nutritional substances to update labeling content to reflect the most current information about the nutritional substance would provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions regarding the nutritional substances they purchase and consume. Such information updates may include nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance, may further include information regarding the source, creation and other origin information for the nutritional substance, and may further include information regarding adulteration of the nutritional substance.
For example, the grower of sweet corn generally only provides basic information as the variety and grade of its corn to the packager. Information regarding actual baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the corn is not likely to be provided, and no information is provided regarding ΔN values resulting from logistic transport (i.e. changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values resulting from preservation during bulk shipping to the packager). The packager, who preserves the corn and ships it to a transformer for use in a ready-to-eat dinner, may only tell the transformer that the corn has been frozen as loose kernels of sweet corn. No information is provided regarding baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values, ΔN values occurring prior to receipt by the packager, resulting from preservation and packaging by the packager, or resulting from logistic transport to the transformer. The transformer uses the corn as an ingredient in creating a ready-to-eat frozen dinner, and ships it to a supermarket. However, no information is provided to the supermarket regarding baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic of the corn, ΔN values occurring prior to receipt by the transformer, resulting from transformation, or resulting from logistic transport to the supermarket (i.e. distribution via truck to the supermarket). The supermarket places the ready-to-eat dinner in a freezer located in the freezer isle of the supermarket, where it is selected by a consumer for purchase. However, no information on baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values, ΔN of such values, or corresponding residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the ready-to-eat dinner is passed along to the consumer. The consumer knows essentially nothing about baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the corn, nor does the consumer know what changes occurred (generally a degradation, but could be a maintenance or even an improvement) to the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values, ΔN, of the sweet corn from creation, logistic transport to the packager, preservation and packaging by the packager, logistic transport to the transformer, transformation, logistic transport to the supermarket, and preservation in the supermarket's freezer isle. Further, the packaging of the ready-to-eat dinner may only provide the consumer with rudimentary instructions regarding how to cook or reheat the ready-to-eat dinner in a microwave oven, toaster oven or conventional oven, and only identify that the dinner contains whole kernel corn among the various items in the dinner, preparation by consumer, and finally consumption by the consumer. The consumer of the dinner will likely not express opinions on the quality of the dinner, unless it was an especially bad experience, where the consumer might contact the producer's customer support program to complain. Unfortunately, today consumers have no way to access information regarding the extent to which nutritional substances have changed, the ΔN (typically a degradation), at any moment during their life-cycle. Accordingly, they cannot determine the actual residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance. Further, they have no access to information regarding how a nutritional substance's nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values will further change (usually a degradation) during local storage and conditioning, and no way to access information regarding how to condition a nutritional substance in order to achieve desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values. An interactive system and data base including user friendly dynamic nutritional substance labeling allowing consumers to access such information for nutritional substances would offer great value to the nutritional substance supply system.
Consumers' needs are changing as consumers are demanding healthier foods, such as “organic foods.” Customers are also asking for more information about the nutritional substances they consume, such as specific characteristics' relating not only to nutritional content, but to allergens or digestive intolerances. For example, nutritional substances which contain lactose, gluten, nuts, dyes, etc. need to be avoided by certain consumers. However, the producer of the ready-to-eat dinner, in the prior example, has very little information to share other than possibly the source of the elements of the ready-to-eat dinner and its processing steps in preparing the dinner. Generally, the producer of the ready-to-eat dinner does not know the nutritional content and organoleptic state and aesthetic condition of the product after it has been reheated or cooked by the consumer, cannot predict changes to these properties, ΔN, and cannot inform a consumer of this information to enable the consumer to better meet their needs. For example, the consumer may want to know what proportion of desired organoleptic properties or values, desired nutritional content or values, or desired aesthetic properties or values of the corn in the ready-to-eat dinner remain after cooking or reheating, and the change in the desired nutritional content or values, the desired organoleptic properties or values, or the desired aesthetic properties or values, ΔN, (usually a degradation, but could be a maintenance or even improvement). There is a need to preserve, measure, estimate, store and/or transmit information regarding such nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values, including changes to these values, ΔN, throughout the nutritional substance supply system.
The caloric and nutritional content information for a prepared food that is provided to the consumer is often minimal. For example, when sugar is listed in the ingredient list, the consumer may not receive any information about the source of the sugar, which can come from a variety of plants, such as sugarcane, beets, or corn, which will affect its nutritional content. Conversely, some nutritional information that is provided to consumers is so detailed, the consumer can do little with it. For example, this list of ingredients is from a nutritional label on a consumer product: Vitamins—A 355 IU 7%, E 0.8 mg 4%, K 0.5 mcg, 1%, Thiamin 0.6 mg 43%, Riboflavin 0.3 mg 20%, Niacin 6.0 mg 30%, B6 1.0 mg 52%, Foliate 31.5 mcg 8%, Pantothenic 7%; Minerals Calcium 11.6 1%, Iron 4.5 mg 25%, Phosphorus 349 mg 35%, Potassium 476 mg 14%, Sodium 58.1 mg 2%, Zinc 3.7 mg 24%, Copper 0.5 mg 26%, Manganese 0.8 mg 40%, Selenium 25.7 mcg 37%; Carbohydrate 123 g, Dietary fiber 12.1 g, Saturated fat 7.9 g, Monosaturated Fat 2.1 g, Polysaturated Fat 3.6 g, Omega 3 fatty acids 108 g, Omega 6 fatty acids 3481, Ash 2.0 g and Water 17.2 g. (%=Daily Value). There is a need for dynamic labeling of nutritional substances in order to provide information about nutritional substances in a meaningful manner. Such information needs to be presented in a manner that meets the specific needs of a particular consumer. For example, consumers with a medical condition, such as diabetes, would want to track specific information regarding nutritional values associated with sugar and other nutrients in the foods and beverages they consume, and would benefit further from knowing changes in these values or having tools to quickly indicate or estimate these changes in a retrospective, current, or prospective fashion.
In fact, each module in the food and beverage industry already creates and tracks some information, including caloric and nutritional information, about their product internally. For example, the farmer who grew the corn knows the variety of the seed, condition of the soil, the source of the water, the fertilizers and pesticides used, the chosen mode of logistic transport to the packager, and can measure the caloric and nutritional content at creation. The packager of the corn knows when it was picked, how the corn was preserved and packaged before being sent to the ready-to-eat dinner, what resulting change (typically a degradation) to caloric and nutritional content has occurred, the chosen mode of logistic transport to the transformer, and when it was delivered to the ready-to-eat dinner transformer. The ready-to-eat dinner transformer knows the source of the corn and other ingredients of the ready-to-eat dinner, how it was processed during transformation, including the recipe followed, how it was preserved and packaged for the consumer, and the chosen mode of logistic transport to the supermarket. Not only does such a ready-to-eat dinner producer know what changes (typically degradation) to caloric and nutritional content occurred, the ready-to-eat dinner transformer can modify its processing and post-processing preservation to optimize residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values (for example to minimize degradation). The supermarket knows when they received the ready-to-eat dinners, when they were put into their freezer in the freezer isle, the temperature and other conditions inside the freezer, and when the consumer purchased the ready-to-eat dinner. Finally, the consumer knows how she locally stored and prepared the ready-to-eat dinner for consumption, which can also change the nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values (typically a degradation), what condiments were added, and whether she did or did not enjoy it.
If there was a mechanism to share this information, the quality of the nutritional substances, including caloric and nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic value, could be preserved and improved. Consumers could be better informed about nutritional substances they select and consume, including the state, and changes in the state, ΔN, of the nutritional substance throughout its lifecycle from creation to consumption. The efficiency and cost effectiveness of nutritional substances could also be improved. Feedback within the entire chain from creator to consumer could provide a closed-loop system that could improve quality (taste, appearance, and caloric and nutritional content), efficiency, value and profit. For example, in the milk supply chain, at least 10% of the milk produced is wasted due to safety margins included in product expiration dates. The use of more accurate tracking information, measured quality information, including ΔN and corresponding residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values, and historical environmental information could substantially reduce such waste. An interactive system and data base including dynamic nutritional substance labeling for collecting, preserving, measuring and/or tracking information about a nutritional substance in the nutritional substance supply system, would allow needed accountability. There would be nothing to hide. Unfortunately, today there is no such system or dynamic nutritional substance labeling.
As consumers are demanding more information about what they consume, they are asking for products that have higher nutritional content and more closely match good nutritional requirements, and would like nutritional products to actually meet their specific nutritional substance requirements. While grocery stores, restaurants, and all those who process and sell food and beverages may obtain some information from current nutritional substance tracking systems, such as existing non-dynamic nutritional substance labeling, these current systems can provide only limited information.
Current packaging materials for nutritional substances include plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, and synthetic materials. Generally, the packaging material is chosen by the producer to best preserve the quality of the nutritional substance until used by the customer. In some cases, the packaging may include some information regarding type of nutritional substance, identity of the producer, and the country of origin. Such packaging generally does not transmit source information of the nutritional substance, such as creation information and baseline nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values, current or historic information as to the external conditions of the packaged nutritional substance during storage or logistic transport, current or historic information as to the internal conditions of the packaged nutritional substance during storage or logistic transport, or corresponding ΔN information and residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values.
Nutritional substance collectors and/or producers, such as growers (plants), ranchers (animals) or synthesizer (synthetic compounds), routinely create and collect information about their products, however, that information is generally not accessible by their customers. Even if such producers wished to provide such information to their customers, there is no current method of labeling, encoding or identifying each particular product to provide such information (even though all plants, animals and in general, nutritional substances have a natural fingerprint). While there are limited methods and systems available, they are excessively costly, time consuming, and do not trace, or provide access to, the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic state across the product's lifecycle. Current labels for such products include package labels, sticker labels and food color ink labels. These labels generally are applied to all similar products and cannot identify each particular product, only variety of products, such as apple banana, but not a particular banana.
An important issue in the creation, preservation, transformation, conditioning, and consumption of nutritional substances are the changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values, ΔN, that occur in nutritional substances due to a variety of internal and external factors. Because nutritional substances are composed of biological, organic, and/or chemical compounds, they are generally subject to degradation. This degradation generally reduces the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritional substances. While not always true, nutritional substances are best consumed at their point of creation. However, being able to consume nutritional substances at the farm, at the slaughterhouse, at the fishery, or at the food processing plant is at least inconvenient, if not impossible. Currently, the food and beverage industry attempts to minimize the loss of nutritional value (often through the use of additives or preservatives), and/or attempts to hide this loss of nutritional value from consumers.
It is understood that nutritional substances may experience one, or several, preservation modalities on their journey from creation to consumption. Such preservation modalities include all known forms of storage. Further, such preservation modalities include all known forms of logistic transport. Modes of logistic transport may include, but are in no way limited to: containers for maritime, rail, highway, and air-freight; enclosed tractor-trailers; box trucks; rail and highway tankers; hoppers; pallets; boxes; bags; drums; and so forth. ΔN resulting during logistic transport of nutritional substances can be significant. Accordingly, the ability to track ΔN (or corresponding residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values) resulting during logistic transport and communicate it to others in the nutritional substance supply system would provide a great benefit to all participants in the nutritional substance supply system.
Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and their associated limitations are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the following Detailed Description.